Chapman's literary agent, Alan Nevins of Reniassance Talent, told the outlet that his office received a $430,000 check after his client had signed a deal to speak at an economic empowerment convention for small business owners after receiving the invitation via email from what appeared to be the office of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the real deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
However, after seeing several red flags in the lead up to the event, it appeared that the deal wasn't legitimate, and Chapman decided not to go through with it, reports Bravo's The Daily Dish.
The check still showed up at Nevins' office with the organizers asking Chapman to donate $250,000 of it back to the foundation that was sponsoring the event. Nevins told TMZ that he called the bank that issued the check and the construction company that allegedly wrote it, both of which turned out to be real.
The bank confirmed it's an active account but wouldn't say for whom, and the construction company said they had no knowledge of the check being written, according to Nevins.
Armstrong tweeted that she had similarly received an invitation and subsequent check to speak about domestic victims rights. "I was targeted in this as well - they sent me a fake cashiers check from a business bank to Chase bank and asked me to come speak about domestic victims rights - my passion and my cause #sickpeople," she said.
The former Bravo reality star also added that she was disappointed that this organization that seemed to be dedicated to helping those affected by domestic violence didn't really exist. "I had hope they wanted to help women and children of domestic violence - they asked me for a large donation and that was the initial red flag but my hope was to make change," Taylor shared.
Also, former Million Dollar Listing LA star Madison Hildebrand also revealed that he was targeted in the same scam. Hildebrand told TMZ he was offered $300,000 to speak at a charity event in Dubai at the invitation of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the real deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Madison was close to signing the deal when he noticed all sorts of red flags, such as the organization wanting to wire transfer the money to Madison but with a clause in the contract that gave them five days to cancel it. According to TMZ, if they called the deal off and asked Madison to wire the money back, it would have come out of his own pocket because the money would have never actually gotten to his bank account.
Madison said that he decided to back out of the deal two days before TMZ reported that Duane "Dog" Chapman had been scammed, reports Bravo's The Daily Dish.
Federal and local law enforcement sources told TMZ that "a rash of celebs" have been targeted in this scam. As for the check Chapman received, sources told TMZ that if he had deposited it, the funds would have disappeared a few days later. So if he sent back the $250,000 as a donation, it would have come out of his own pocket.
Source/Photo Credit: Bravo
